the world

a poem...
"I Am" (from You Hear Me, poems and writing by teenage boys)

i am the hated one,
spreader of disease.
carrying the blame unjustly.
i am the dying innocent.
i am the ungodly thing
preached against in church--
preached against in politics.
i am the loathed,
i am the shunned,
i am the feared,
i am gay.

i am dying innocent,
i am Goddess,
i am God.
i am an unborn child.
i am a dying mother.
i am the blood from your wound.
i am living with you,
i am dying because of you.

-----
a 14 year old wrote that. the power of words is often forgotten when it comes to kids. hearing their voice. thinking about what does it mean to empower. maybe it is because it gets to be too much of a hassle to try and empower after breaking up fights, mediating altercations, teaching how to read, checking uniforms, conversing about confidence, pleading for some self-control, hoping that theyd embrace the knowledge theyre getting...

but then theres also the fact that theres a world they go back to that we have no control over.
so do we still continue to empower?

isnt that what we committed to as teachers?